Boehner: Scrap oil subsidies only in broader corporate tax cut

“I think that looking at tax expenditures in the confines of an effort to reduce the corporate tax code are certainly appropriate,” he said. “I think that’s the appropriate place to look at this.”

Boehner’s comments came as oil executives were testifying in the Senate against eliminating the subsidies, which they characterize as a tax increase. ExxonMobile CEO Rex Tillerson attacked the Senate Democrat effort as “misinformed and discriminatory.”

Boehner also added a warning to those pushing for higher taxes on corporations such as oil companies.

“When you start talking about corporate tax rates, understand this: companies don’t pay taxes,” he said. “Their customers pay taxes for them, because the people who buy their goods and services are the ones who eventually see those increased taxes in the price of the goods and services they get.”